CREEDE HINSHAW: The Vatican and the Chinese church

Reports indicate that the Roman Catholic Church is trying to come to a rapprochement with the Chinese Communist government over that government’s control of the Chinese Catholic Church. I probably wouldn’t have written on this development except for the fact that I wrote last week about the Chinese government’s destruction of underground churches and persecution of faithful pastors.

Chinese Catholics, like their Protestant counterparts, are divided into two main groups — the underground Catholic Church and the state-approved Catholic Patriotic Association.

The Vatican is apparently trying, under Pope Francis’ leadership, to heal the rupture between the Roman Catholic Church, the Chinese underground church, the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association and the Chinese government. There are lots of moving parts here and conversations have been moving slowly for three years. It’s hard enough to try to get two factions of any church to come to agreement; throw in the communist government and the Vatican bureaucracy and the whole conversation becomes more problematic.

The Catholic Patriotic Association, for example, has consecrated Chinese bishops whom the Vatican refuses to recognize. Meanwhile, the underground Chinese Catholic Church has consecrated its own bishops who are equally unrecognized by the Chinese government and Chinese Patriotic Association. This is just one of many issues needing to be addressed.

News now emerges that Pope Francis has apparently entered into a tentative agreement whereby some underground Catholic bishops would be removed/retire/step down to be replaced by some of the government-approved bishops. In exchange for this agreement, China would recognize the authority of the Pope to approve/select bishops. I’m sure much more is involved in the tentative agreement.

It’s hard for an outsider (this Protestant columnist) to know what to make of this news. It is also unwise for one from another branch of the Christian community to make judgments on these reports. A survey of articles from within Catholicism indicates division over these steps. Some Catholics are calling Pope Francis “naïve” in his efforts to “appease” the Chinese government, while other Catholics are quite sure this will resolve painful divisions within Chinese Catholicism and allow the Vatican to play a firmer, more effective role in China.

Coming on the heels of the ruthless Chinese destruction of churches, the timing for these announcements is awkward at best. Pope Francis seems to think that the way forward in China is to resolve the dispute so the Vatican can exercise greater leverage with the Communists and unite the divided Chinese Church. I would humbly suggest, with the repeated proviso that I am an outsider on this subject, that the Vatican’s effort to re-establish ties with China and heal the church looks good on paper, but that the odds of success seem very far-fetched when it comes to trusting the Chinese government.

There are rarely simple solutions to such a complex situation and Pope Francis undoubtedly has good advisers, but this bargain seems to cede the high ground and sacrifice millions of faithful underground Catholics for the sake of a rather shaky hope.

Email columnist Creede Hinshaw, a retired Methodist minister, at [email protected].